Released August 21, 2009 | GALWAY, IRELAND
en
Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Sellafield Limited (Cumbria, England) has announced a contract tender worth a potential £1.5 billion ($2.5 billion) to build a plant to handle onsite radioactive effluent. Figures regarding the value of the project range from £250 million ($413 million) to £1.5 billion for what the tender calls the Highly Active Liquid Effluent Facility. The project is one of the largest planned for the Sellafield site, which just this week received its first consignment of spent nuclear fuel from the closed Sizewell A nuclear power plant in Suffolk, England.
According to the tender, the project will be split into three phases after the concept design stage, starting with initial mobilisation and familiarisation. This will be followed by the completion of the design with Sellafield Limited and ensuring that all hazards have been addressed. A pre-construction safety report will also be prepared. After this, the project will be presented to the government and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) for approval. Phase III of the works will see the successful contractor completing the detailed design for the entire works, construction of the facility, equipment procurement and related construction duties. The deadline for submissions is 9 October 2009. The project will start in April next year and must be completed by March 2018.
Earlier this week, Sellafield received its first flask of used fuel since the Sizewell A plant was shut down in December 2006. Defueling was expected to begin shortly after Sizewell A was closed, but the NDA admits that there were 'challenges' at the Sellafield plant, meaning that not enough flasks were available. Operational nuclear sites have priority in the defueling process.
During the plant's operational lifetime, more than 3,000 fuel flasks were dispatched to Sellafield from Sizewell A via railway. Approximately 310 additional flasks will be needed to clear the inventory of fuel present on the site during the next three years. The flasks themselves are constructed from forged steel more than 30 centimetres thick and weighing more than 50 tonnes each. Each flask holds no more than 2.5 tonnes of fuel.
Sizewell A Site Director Paul Wilkinson said, "We are very pleased to have started defueling. Our fuel accounts for around 99% of the total radioactivity at Sizewell A, so this is a big step towards removing the site's most significant hazard."
Sara Johnston, NDA Programme Director for Magnox, added: "This is a significant milestone for the site and a major step forward in the programme to clean up the UK's old nuclear sites."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.
According to the tender, the project will be split into three phases after the concept design stage, starting with initial mobilisation and familiarisation. This will be followed by the completion of the design with Sellafield Limited and ensuring that all hazards have been addressed. A pre-construction safety report will also be prepared. After this, the project will be presented to the government and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) for approval. Phase III of the works will see the successful contractor completing the detailed design for the entire works, construction of the facility, equipment procurement and related construction duties. The deadline for submissions is 9 October 2009. The project will start in April next year and must be completed by March 2018.
Earlier this week, Sellafield received its first flask of used fuel since the Sizewell A plant was shut down in December 2006. Defueling was expected to begin shortly after Sizewell A was closed, but the NDA admits that there were 'challenges' at the Sellafield plant, meaning that not enough flasks were available. Operational nuclear sites have priority in the defueling process.
During the plant's operational lifetime, more than 3,000 fuel flasks were dispatched to Sellafield from Sizewell A via railway. Approximately 310 additional flasks will be needed to clear the inventory of fuel present on the site during the next three years. The flasks themselves are constructed from forged steel more than 30 centimetres thick and weighing more than 50 tonnes each. Each flask holds no more than 2.5 tonnes of fuel.
Sizewell A Site Director Paul Wilkinson said, "We are very pleased to have started defueling. Our fuel accounts for around 99% of the total radioactivity at Sizewell A, so this is a big step towards removing the site's most significant hazard."
Sara Johnston, NDA Programme Director for Magnox, added: "This is a significant milestone for the site and a major step forward in the programme to clean up the UK's old nuclear sites."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.
